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0daylighthours0 · 1 month

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A Deep Dive into Milkvan and Byler's Development: If Milkvan Was Endgame All Along, Why Was it Written Like This???

SO. I've been rewatching st with my mother, who's never seen it before. And she was a fan of milkvan throughout seasons 1 and 2. Viewing those seasons again I could see why, they're cute. However, come season 3 and INSTANT distaste. And, listen, my mother is not the consciously shipping gal. She simply routes for main character pairings as writers intend, doesn't read between the lines, doesn't nothing. And she does NOT know my own opinions on the pairing. In other words, completely unbiased, uninternet drama influenced eyes. We've now reached season 3 and, after getting through a chunk of it, I asked her,

"so what do you think of Mike and El?"

and she expressed to me that they seem to be, quote:

"not very good together."

She said El's character doesn't suit the way she's acting now (in the first few episodes, concerning Mike), that Mike is more likeable and interesting when he's away from her. She doesn't like the way they ditched the party, and when it comes to their 'making out' the scenes are seen by her from Hopper's perspective (in other words, distasteful). She claimed that they'd be much better characters as friends.

And ya know what, she's right. And I mean like - duh, that's what we've been saying all this time, I'm not stating anything new here. But guys, wouldn't it be strange if the central couple of the show, pivotal that it is liked by audiences and is rooted for by them as they are THE pair, would be so dislikable like this? So uninteresting, so cliche.

I mean, okay, let's do a little mental experiment I like to do to test if I'm not just acting delulu. Let's play a game. In this game, milkvan ARE meant to be endgame. They are in love, they were all along, and they're here to draw in viewers and appease all El stans. Now, seasons 1 and 2 their relationship is honestly fine. Surface level, yeah, people will watch and appreciate them. They perfectly blend in with all the other neat pairings of the seasons, and have their own unique character traits to stand out as a main couple.

Just pretending our mate Will doesn't exist, we now get into season 3. Now, writers have nothing to lose here. If you've finished season 2, you probably like milkvan already. The issue is that they're already together now, so what's the conflict going to be? The arc? And every central couple needs that conflict to stay juicy.

Just take a look:

Jancy: quarrels, struggle to understand one another

Jopper: not yet together, one sided? will they won't they

Lumax: ...

Lumax? Lumax. Huh, guess they were simply together. Some loveable bickering, maintained a friendly dynamic while clearly in closer proximity. Well then, writers can do the same for milkvan right? Well, yes easily. But one might argue that since they are supposed to be THE pairing they need more going on between them than that. So what'll it be? Well, it seems that writers thought,

"hey, why not break them up?"

ok so.. that's a bit risky. I mean you want people to like this ship, if you break them up then that threats: 1. there being a disliking to one or both characters, 2. coming off generic if done incorrectly, 3. the break up might make no sense considering how in love they came off as just a season ago. But hey.. it could work, if done right. Some kind of misunderstanding, similar to Jancy. Maybe an argument leading to a sudden parting. I mean, yeah, Yeah! I can see that. Perhaps Mike is being too overprotective whilst El's trying to sacrifice herself for something, so she NEEDS to separate herself from him attempting to hurt him less. Or, I dunno, something akin. What's crucial is that us, AS THE AUDIENCE, still know them to be deeply in love. I mean, we have to still want them to be together. And we've seen couple trouble before. Just take a look at Lumax season 4 - did you or did you not want the best for both of them as a pair? You most likely did. See, it's doable. So did people like milkvan season 3 the same way, even after a separation plot? No.

Okay well, there are obviously those who'll always love milkvan no matter but, see, season 3 tainted it. "We need to write them like this cause it's more realistic to teenager behavior" my ars. You can make it messy without making it icky. Not only did it sour their unique dynamic, it flabbergastingly stomped on Mike as a character.

Honestly, I feel Mike has always been a mild struggle to write. Season 1 his motivations were 'find Will' (who still doesn't exist in our mind game yet shh) and 'protect El'. This worked well for him. Afterwards though, El and Will became more separate plots to him. But as a main character it remained integral that he be closely linked to them somehow. This sets him apart from Lucas and Dustin, who can easily be given any arc any season as their plots have the flexibility of a side quest nature. Since what Mike does is meant to matter more - with there probably being a better way of phrasing that but you know what I mean - it's harder knowing what he'll do when El and Will (who we'll GET to sh.) are their own separate people. And Mike is just a boy, he doesn't have super powers and he isn't a cop, which leaves there even less for him to do which is of significance. Season 2 writers decided upon having him support Will's arc, making himself of enough relevance by being able to take credit for some Will development in the story, and the plots that surrounded that, and then Mike was thrown a little bone by being the one to come up with the idea of burning those vines in the finale.

Truthfully, you don't really remember Mike's deeds much when reminiscing the series. It isn't like Dustin who's bond with Dart sticks to everyone, or Nancy and Jonathan responsible for kicking out Hawkins Lab. This is due to them, again, being able to traverse all sorts of adventures without limits. But my guy Mike can't do dat. Sadly, this kind of leads to him coming of as a little.. well... insignificant. And I know I know, the Mike truthers are gonna come at my throat. And hey! I love him too. I only want the best for my boy.

This makes season 3 a unique case cause it seems that, for the plot they decided they wanted, writers actually had to almost entirely change his character. I mean mate s2 Mike and s3 Mike are two different peoples, don't even. And I don't believe that the Duffers had their story and character turnouts completely drawn out from the very start at all. If I was to guess, I'd assume they have vague ideas of little plots they plan to include in future, but there is definitely a lot that has come unpredicted or changed throughout st's runtime. And one of those phenomenons are Michael Wheeler. So they decided to make this guy a di-

So they decided to make him more douchy, more movie typical teenage guy. It's not as if he wholly sucked, he didn't, but he didn't really do much. Whined about his girlfriend, separated the party. I mean what even was his arc? (UnLESS–)

You see, if milkvan is written to be loved, then season 3 was strike one. All of its charm was stripped away. It seems they had some cute scenes after their reconciliation, but it's not enough. It's just sort of

"oh, ok, so they're happy with eachother now. yayy."

and Stranger Things should want to be anything but boring. Sure they often enjoy indulging in tropes, but they always do something different with them. Something standoutish. And from this point on milkvan just got dull. Either writers ran out of ideas or lost interest, honestly (still with our mind game of telling ourselves they're meant to be).

But it's okay. Look, so season 3 was a bit rocky, maybe lost a couple of fans for the guys, but it is salvageable. Easily, easily. Looks like we want a plot of Mike struggling to tell El he loves her. Great! Much to work with.

So let's get into it. Season 4! Choices were... made. And, okay, now we can't go any further without bringing in our boy Will.

Mike is intrinsically tied to Will and El and has been from the start. Maybe Will was more of an accident. Maybe s1 Will was just a plot device for Mike, then s2 Will was a plot device again and Mike needed to be there as the main boy character. Come season 3 and it seems their relationship still matters. Will was sidelined - hard - so most of Mike's moments revolved around El. But as his bond with Mike is the only that's been properly built up, that's the only friend we'll get him interacting with in a way that matters. So the Mike and Will tie continues!

But that does not have to be the case for season 4. Now the writers have a chance.

They made Will gay.

Ok so.. ok so yeah that's fine. Yeah! I mean they didn't have to do that, might put them in hot water with the bylers since milkvan is their golden beauty but.. you know what no no that's okay. He's been hinted at being queer since episode 1, why not make it canon! Cool that works. Explore that, especially since we now have Vecna who can easily target Will for this. Give him a boyfriend! Or a guy crush. He's at a new school now? That's cool. Maybe we can explore some new male character Will's taken interest in. Hey maybe he meets someone who interests him which rises to surface his whole sexuality plot and-

he's in love with Mike.

Ok. No. No. What are you doing? What do you mean?? You didn't have to do that. Strike- strike EFING TWO mates! Strike. 👏 efing. 👏 2!

This was part 1. I am tired and gots to get my ars in bed. But ohohoh, do not worry. I am just getting started.

#anti milkvan #anti mileven #byler #byeler #stranger things #mike wheeler #will byers #byler is real #byler is endgame #byler analysis #byler nation #byler proof #byler is canon #byler endgame #byler tumblr #stranger things 4

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kazoosandfannypacks · 6 months

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sabezra week day 3: what if: what if sabine hadn't gone back to help ahsoka and left with ezra instead?

chapter word count: 1.6K

a/n: this is based on the idea i had a few weeks ago and knew i'd inevitably end up writing. i fully intended to post this as a oneshot, but i've already written a second chapter and have a third in the works as we speak!

taglist: @laughingphoenixleader @accidental-spice @kanerallels @piraterefrigerator @jedi-nurse @sabezraweek @dootchster {if you'd like to be added to or removed from my sabezra taglist, let me know!} Also tagging a few people who were interested in my post about this fic, but just for this first chapter. If you'd like to be tagged on further updates to this fic or added to my sabezra taglist, let me know; I'd love to add you! @mataitos @alphaofdarkness @queenbuttercup @lady-grey-1993 @sassygirl579 @redroverrider @light-umbra @commander-tech

also on ao3!

Chapter 1: Ukor B'ukor

Sabine and Ezra stood side by side at the edge of the tower on Perida, staring in disbelief at the ever-widening gap between them and the Star Destroyer.

"I can't make that jump," he shook his head.

"Yes you can," Sabine nodded. She hadn't come this far to bring Ezra home only to fall short now.

"I appreciate the confidence…"

After all the times Ahsoka had told her not to make excuses, Sabine wasn't gonna take any from Ezra. She'd seen him and Kanan do this a hundred times, and there was no reason it wouldn't work this time.

"No," Sabine took a few steps back, "I push you first, then you pull me across."

He looked back at her, and she nodded.

"I can do this," she said.

He looked back at the ship that was slowly moving further and further away from them.

"Ezra," Sabine said, "the longer you hesitate, the harder this gets. Come on!"

Without another word— Ezra was wise enough by now to know there was no use arguing with her— he turned quickly and ran past her, then knelt to the ground for a running start.

"Ready?" she asked.

He nodded.

"Go!"

She watched him run past her, almost in disbelief that he'd trusted another one of her wild ideas. Though she knew that the leap of faith was probably scarier for Ezra to do than it was for her to watch, she couldn't quite be sure. After all she went through to get him back, it would be a tragedy if now they fell short— no pun intended.

It wasn't until she could feel the Force pulling on Ezra through her that she realized how weighty this responsibility was: he'd put his life in her hands here. He was counting on her once again, and once again, she wouldn't fail him.

He hadn't quite landed in the hangar, but he'd gotten a firm grip on the platform below it, and as soon as he'd regained his bearings, he jumped up onto the floor. He was quick to disarm one of the troopers, sending him tumbling off the ledge. Before Ezra could get to the other trooper on the landing, Sabine did, ever at the ready with her blasters.

Ezra looked back across the way to her.

"Come on," he called, "your turn!"

She quickly ran back to get a running start, and saw Ahsoka in the distance, battling the troopers they'd been facing.

Sabine looked back at Ahsoka, and Ahsoka looked at her, and time froze.

"I can't leave you here," Sabine thought.

"Go," Ahsoka nodded, and though it was barely more than a whisper, she could hear it.

"May the force be with you," Sabine smiled at Ahsoka, but their bond was cut off by the distant cries of her name.

She nodded, turned, and ran to the edge of the tower. After all this time of Ezra counting on her, it was her turn to count on him.

"Here goes nothing— and everything," she thought, knowing that as soon as she was airborne, the only hope she had of landing on the ship was Ezra. She closed her eyes, threw herself forward, and took the scariest leap of faith of her life.

For a moment, she felt free, weightless, alive— but it wasn't long before the panic kicked in and she realized there was nothing beneath her, and she was beginning to fall, to drop to the surface of the planet below, cursing that she didn't have her jetpack with her.

And then she felt a presence all around her, strong, warm, almost like home: the Force, Ezra, pulling her up, bringing her closer to the ship. It all happened so fast: one minute, she was falling to her doom; the next, she was hurtling into Ezra's arms.

He caught her in his embrace so fast and so hard that she almost sent him tumbling backwards, and her along with him. Instead, they steadied themselves against each other, his hands gripping her shoulders.

"I've got you," he said, "I've got you."

She looked up at the relieved smile on his face, and the rich blueness in his eyes, and smiled as well.

"We made it," she laughed.

"We did it," Ezra laughed.

Out of excitement, she wrapped her arms around him, and he did the same, losing themselves for a moment in each other's embrace.

She'd quickly gotten used to the feeling of his stupid fluffy beard against her cheek, and now she couldn't help realizing again how strong he was now, as his arms tightened around her, and she gripped him tighter as well.

"We did it," Sabine thought, "I'm bringing him home."

She could already picture all the reunions to follow. Chopper and Zeb would no doubt be ready with quick remarks to hide how much they'd missed him, though Sabine knew full well the stockpile of helmets Zeb had tucked away for Ezra in their old room in The Ghost. She also anticipated how all the caution and regret that'd followed Hera these last few years would quickly melt away as she'd welcome her lost son home.

And, of course, a few special first meetings were in order as well. Jacen almost thought Ezra was the stuff of legends by now, but to get to meet him, maybe even learn a thing or two from him— it would be good for them both. And, of course, Sabine was ready for the teasing when Ezra found out she'd adopted a Loth Cat, though she wasn't quite ready yet for Ezra's reaction to Murley's nickname, Cyare Kaysh Mirsh Solus, being partly because of how much he reminded her of Ezra— and especially after Ezra found out what those words mean in Mando'a.

But for now, she was glad that the only catching up to do was still just her and Ezra. After a decade of "what if" and "why" and "how," she'd finally found certainty. No more wondering if she could've stopped him. No more kicking herself in the foot for words she'd never said. No more lying awake at night thinking she was foolish for even hoping he'd survived.

Now all of her hopes proved real, because here he was— in her arms— with the same smile and the scars on his cheek and those eyes that were a shade of blue no painting could replicate.

"We're going home," Ezra said, as if knowing exactly what she was thinking, "I always knew I could count on you."

She watched his face fall, though, as he turned away from her and back toward the tower, and she followed his concerned gaze to see Ahsoka, still in battle, alone and surrounded.

"I should've gone back for her," Sabine said, taking a step away from Ezra, "I should've stayed…."

"Sabine, no," Ezra said, grabbing her by the arms, "our path is different from hers. Ahsoka knew what choice she was making, and she knew it would give us time to escape."

"But I should be down there with her," Sabine said.

"Your path doesn't lie on Perida," Ezra's tone lowered as his eyes caught hers, "and I didn't spend ten years waiting for you just to leave without you."

She shook her head and smiled, then deflected whatever feelings her smile would betray by looking away, back at Ahsoka.

Together they watched as the enemies overtook Ahsoka, surrounded her on all sides. Almost as if by instinct, Sabine stepped closer to Ezra, and he wrapped an arm around her for comfort, bringing her head to rest on his shoulder.

As the troopers closed in on the fallen Ahsoka, then held their ground, Morgan stood over her, as if ready to strike the final blow. Ahsoka responded with the unexpected: she knocked her off her feet with a force push, and with the same motion swirled her lightsaber around herself completely, carving a hole in the floor beneath her and sending herself down into it.

Sabine and Ezra leaned closer to the ledge, trying to see what happened as the Star Destroyer pulled farther and farther away. Several troopers rained down barrages of blasterfire into the hole, but to no avail. Lower in the side of the tower the wall burst open, as if weakened by lightsaber and then broken through— which is exactly what happened, Sabine reasoned, as Ahsoka jumped through it. At the same moment, a ship pulled around the tower— Huyang must've gotten that old rustbucket working— and caught Ahsoka as she jumped, landing her safely in the open hatch on top.

"She's gonna be fine," Sabine laughed.

"She always is," Ezra said.

The ship flew over their heads, above the Star Destroyer.

"She's landing on top of us" Sabine said, looking up, "close enough that tracking beacons won't pick up on the ship. She'll lie low until she can get out of here, and meet us back on Lothal."

"How do you even know that?" Ezra asked.

"I think I can feel it," Sabine said, "it must be a Force thing."

Ezra laughed, "careful there, Mandalorian. You're starting to sound like a Jedi."

"I wouldn't say that yet," Sabine said, "I still have a lot to figure out."

"Me too," Ezra said, "not just about the Force, but everything else too. So much has changed…"

"We'll figure it out together," Sabine said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"We always did make quite a team," Ezra said.

Sabine looked up at him with a smile, which only widened in response to Ezra's smile, and the knowing but still questioning look in his eyes.

One last time before they had to find a place to hide, Sabine found her way into Ezra's embrace as they pulled each other in for another hug.

#sabezraweek2023 #sabezra #sabine wren #ezra bridger #ezrabine #ahsoka series #star wars rebels #ahsoka spoilers #kazzy writes #fanfic #kazzy writes fanfic #sabezra fanfic

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platonically-loving-alastor · 9 days

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Aroace Alastor

Hoo boy here we go- This one might make some people mad at me, so I'll preface by saying I do not want to start a fight and as long as you respect my business, I'll respect yours. But let's get this over with-

First off, I genuinely don't understand how some people can see the Ace-In-The-Hole quote and still believe that Alastor is only intended to be asexual and not also aromantic. Yes, the term Rosie used for purpose of the pun was 'ace', but can we look at the context of that moment before jumping to conclusions?

Rosie, motioning to Charlie: "Oh, who's this you brought with you? Come now, Alastor, she's much too young for you! Oh, I'm just kidding. I know you're an ace in the hole!"

Her original statement implies nothing sexual, only that he's involved in a relationship with Charlie, and she follows it up with why she knows that couldn't be because he's an 'ace in the hole'. I don't think you have to read too far between the lines to see that.

I would also like to say that when Vivienne has spoken about his orientation before, I recall her saying that she didn't want to confirm him being aromantic so that she wouldn't 'ruin anyone's fun', which I just feel like is an odd thing to say if she wasn't already explicitly picturing him as aroace. If she thought he had romantic attraction, why wouldn't she just say that? What fun would that ruin? I also feel like keeping things like this ambiguous just to appease the shippers is a little weird, but I digress-

And to those of you who I know are saying "But aromantic people can be in relationships too!!" *deep inhale* yeah I know. I'm not gonna pretend you're not right about that, but there are also aroace people who have exactly 0 interest in romance or sex at all. This is the part of the post that really is based on how I interpret certain moments, but to me he is absolutely one of those people. I don't really know where people get any vibes of him being interested in that stuff. I have never once looked at him and thought "Yeah I could see him in a romantic relationship with *insert character here*". Even aside from attraction in general, since that's what we'd be talking about at this point anyway, he just seems like the kind of guy who'd rather work and live independently instead of relying on anyone, whether practically or emotionally (which is also probably part of the reason he never joined the Vees, but that's another topic entirely). Hell, I'm pretty sure he's in heavy denial about even developing any kind of care or friendship with the people at the hotel (ie. the episode 8 scene with him and Niffty).

The only ships I see him involved in with people he doesn't hate (so ignoring RadioApple, RadioHusk, and StaticRadio. But to be real, maybe the fact all his main ships are enemies to lovers coded says something about the whole situation, but that's just me-) are Charlastor - which I will not even try to discuss here, people aren't gonna like this post as it is - and RadioRose. Rosie and him would at least be fair, if it weren't for one thing (which is also personal opinion on my end), and I don't know exactly how to word it. I'm tempted to say she has wingwoman vibes? But she knows he's aro, so that's not the right word, but there's vibes of like, she probably did act as a wingwoman before she realized that about him or something.. There's also something about her joking around like "Oh this is the girl? You have a girlfriend and I'm only now meeting her?" is almost giving motherly behavior. Idk man they're just besties to me, I could see them in a QPR though (not that they'd probably label it that way, considering the word queerplatonic is likely just complete gibberish to Alastor lmao).

So to summarize: It feels incredibly likely, if not practically canon, that Alastor was written with aromanticism in mind, even if Vivienne refuses to explicitly state it. Subtext and not-that-subtle implications can say just as much about a character as word of God, especially when that God has explicitly told us why she won't confirm or deny this information. Do I think any of this will stop people from shipping him romantically with literally any other character? No ofc it won't, and that's okay, that's just what fandoms do. I do think there's something to say for the fact the one aroace (or even at the very least asexual) character gets constantly shipped with everyone else in the cast, but this post is long enough I think. The only point of posting this is that I wanted to get information out there in one post to say "Hey, let's look a little bit past the surface for a second before saying there's no proof of him being aromantic"

Anyway, thanks for reading, I hope you at least took something away from this

#*prepares to be metaphorically burned at the stake*#i will also say i have a complicated relationship with staticradio #if its one sided thats fantastic but the moment alastor reciprocates feelings im out #will probably make a post on that too at some point #hazbin hotel #alastor #aroace alastor #rosie hazbin hotel #platonic radiorose

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starrspice · 1 year

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So, if Y/N is a siren and by nature they are very strong, did they lose all that strength with the mistreatment? once they fully recovers, would they be able to lift Sun and Moon at the same time? I don't know, the image went through my head and it's funny.xAlso, how big can Y/n grow? Why did Sun and Moon attack the ship where Y/n was prisioner?More importantly, why did they stay with Y/n? Was it something like finding an injured dog on the street and you decided to adopt it?

Bringing in all these excellent questions

So YES Y/N was consideravly weakned after being held captive but it wouldn't take them long to get back to full strength. Recover from their injuries and give em a good meal they'll be just fine!

They'd probably be able to carry Sun and Moon no problem!

Y/N won't grow for a loooooong time! They're kind of at an inbetween phase, where they've got more growing to do but they arent tiny either. In human form they wouldn't be any taller than a human would, but in siren form their tails can grow up to about 8-10ft long

But Y/N is a bit of a runt as far as Siren sizes go, so they'll likely end up a bit shorter than most (but the smaller ones tend to be far more powerful magic wise)

So Sun and Moon attacked the ship specifically in search of Y/N. Despite being pirates the two are honestly pretty compassionate, and were specifically asked for help by a dear friend. They were told the ship contained a mythical creature that was being mistreated and was set to be sold in a black market auction (which they were).

Sun and Moon weren't aware of what kind of creature it was, but intended to rescue it, nurse it to health and either return it to its homeland or take it to a sanctuary of some kind. They were incredibly shocked to find what looked like a very injured, possibly starved, and sickly looking human instead.

Since they thought Y/N was human the whole plan for a sanctuary was off the table, and with them refusing to talk to Sun and Moon they had no way of finding out if Y/N had family or a home to return to

After a few stops ashore with Y/N kind of sticking by their side and returning to the ship the two judt assumed they wanted to continue traveling with them all (and really How could they say no to such a thing?)

#askbox #ask starr #moondrop #sundrop #pirate moondrop #pirate sundrop #siren y/n

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bylerfields · 16 days

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maybe it's space curating bc i definitely see the mike side as the higher volume/frequency, i mean most times theres discourse it's bc someone poking at the will preference. like with the polls anons this week that only happened bc an anon said bratty btm mike was obvious and "at most" btm leaning switch, but stating it as fact not opinion. all preferences are opinion for the reasons you said, we only see them until 14 and havent seen their sex life. usually anything else said is just response to the first rudeness, or thats what i see. theres an acc on here who used to comment on btm will fics calling for btm mike instead which i think is very rude for fandom. theres accs on here blatantly posting on the public dash how people who don't prefer subby btm mike are crazy and even not as smart for not seeing it. how is that not rude? then the multiple times spicy polls anons have been rude instead of just sending asks about their preference for mike and making the experience better for themselves. did you see the polls anon that said something and added "anyway btm mike >>>" months ago? i dont think i've seen that from a btm will? i tried really hard to think if i had! but it's those kinds of behavior we dont need amongst us bc no one is better. i follow lots of spicy bylers and havent seen that from btm will or switch bylers, they just post about their preference. i've made moots with people who came from twitter who said it would happen there too, they'd respond to rudeness for not "getting" sub mike and suddenly are the bad guys. so they got tired by the behavior and stopped being active. maybe your dash is more peaceful but i dont see will sides of things saying things until prompted. or with every right to offer an opinion to what was said bc this is a public space. i'm surprised you've seen more for the opposing side? tbh you will have people who are extra who are rude in every side of a ship preference but the 'frequency' to me has been the mike side. i was annoyed when i saw the bratty anon on spicy polls bc i knew it was going to start more annoying discourse that means nothing. how are they shocked people don't share the same preference? thats normal in fandom. you'd have to be new to fandoms to be shocked

anon I unfortunately think this is just a case of you not seeing the rudeness on the other side because you agree with the stance. especially with the sentiment of people not being as smart for not seeing it - that’s like, a pretty pervasive topic in the sfw side of our fandom as far as will goes.

the ao3 comment thing is obviously rude so i’m with you on that.

it could definitely be that i just don’t follow or see posts like that, though i do follow some really kind people with bottom mike prefs. i’ll take your word for it, but i guess i’d say that even the “anyway bottom mike >” posts come across as tongue in cheek, and again, isn’t it okay to share preferences? it’s a little brash, sure, but it shouldn’t be shocking for people to want to express these prefs in the tag, like you said.

i’m saying all this with a pretty clear preference for bottom will, too, so it’s always a little surprising to me that others don’t see it because it’s not like i’m biased. but it’s just always felt obvious to me that bottom mike fans are the minority in the fandom - think about the reason you haven’t seen any of the asks of similar nature for bottom will in spicybylerpolls. there’s no need for it lmao - and it just takes one annoying comment, likely from an anon or someone not active in the fandom (that the op probably made without even thinking) to get 10 people to come to it’s defense with think pieces galore about the canon validity. sure, they have every right to comment on what was said but there shouldn’t be such a big need for defense, i guess?

have you thought about the possibility that theyre likely just experiencing fandom a little differently than you and (other than the ao3 comment thing) are not intending to invalidate you or be rude to you?

even with the recent anon sharing how surprised they were to find that more people didn’t see mike as a bottom, i get how it could come across as invalidating if they weren’t coming from a place of clearly knowing theyre in the minority of opinions. imagine someone saying that around the dinner table with friends. its funny, its a differing take, sure its a little over confident but it’s not rude to anyone - even with an opposing outlook myself i think it sparks fun conversation when someone else is shocked theyre the odd one out. i’m more curious than offended. i may be naive and giving them the benefit of the doubt, but this is often the tone i perceive when i see pro bottom mike posts. i think they’re pretty aware of what the common opinion is.

this is similar to how i feel when i see “where are the bottom mike fics/poll questions/etc? i’m tired of bottom will” again, same situation, if a friend said this in a group of bottom will fans, it doesn’t come across to me as being actually upset and wanting to silence us, it’s just: silly. there’s that surprise of “am i really the only one who didn’t go crazy over [insert xyz thing that mike did in the show], where are my people?” and i think they’re entitled to do so. just as people with our preference are over things we saw in the show. bottom will fans already have their people, it was the default when the polls started. i guess thats all i’m saying.

from my now 1.5 years on the nsfw side, it seems like there’s always going to be an assumption from someone that people sharing opinions about a more subby mike are being spiteful, rude, or trying to be divisive.

you say no one is better, but seem to have a very low tolerance for posts about bottom mike. having the preference is okay, but only if they come with the perfect angelic attitude about it. i’d say we don’t hold the same standard for bottom will posters - and it makes sense that you’re not gonna perceive a (pretty consistent) negative, superior attitude if you’re nodding along to the sentiment.

thank you for the context!!!

#i fear i’ll manage to piss off both sides with this #as per usual #spicy byler

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acourtofthought · 11 months

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Have you been shipping Elucien since the beginning (ACOWAR, since ACOMAF didn’t really have them interact except at the end)?

I didn't ship Elucien at first.

Not that I was against them. When they were made mates then we got Lucien's POV and later Elain invited him back to Velaris, I was fine with where the story was headed.

But then it looked like things took a turn in a different direction in ACOFAS and I was ok with that too. I was just going whatever way I thought the author was pointing me in me because I wasn't invested in anyone beyond Rhys and Feyre. Really, I've never been one to ship a couple outside the endgame couple (to this day, I will always be 100% fine that Ron and Hermione ended up together and have never imagined her with Draco or Harry) so it's not often that I want to see a couple get together unless it's the authors intended plan.

I also never thought that there could be things going on in the story beyond what the author was telling us so when SJM had a character say one thing, I assumed that's all there was to it. I never realized she placed messages within messages and had little hints scattered all over. I never realized that two characters could be talking about one character and what they're talking about would be important down the road, but for an entirely different character than the one they were originally talking about.

So I went into SF assuming that she decided against Elucien and was going the route of E/riel. As soon as I read the Bonus Chapter, I remember thinking, "that doesn't sound good". 😂 I couldn't understand it because it did feel like she decided on E/riel but all of a sudden Az was coming across as a loose canon who wasn't interested in Elain for the right reasons.

Still, I didn't feel that strongly about who Elain was going to be with until I joined the FB fandom and saw all the Elain slander. I saw the mentions of how she could never end up with Az because she wasn't good enough for him, how she was definitely evil because his shadows hid from her but not Gwyn, how Gwyn was brave for leaving the library after two years while Elain was a giant crybaby for mourning Graysen and the loss of her humanity for 2 months. How it was ridiculous that Nesta wanted to protect Elain but it was so sweet how Nesta felt protective of Gwyn. How Gwyn standing up to Nesta and demanding she treat her like a person was amazing but Elain standing up to Nesta made her a bitch. How Elain's gardening was pathetic but Gwyns bracelet making was adorable. I remember getting into some pretty intense arguments with Gwynriels and I set out to prove that Elain was good enough to end up with Az and the Bonus Chapter didn't mean E/riel was over.

Again, it's not that I even cared about E/riel so much as I hated seeing some tear apart Elain while raving over Gwyn even though their characters weren't that drastically different.

I started deep diving into the books and I joined Tumblr to keep a record of my thoughts. But what ended up happening is I started to realize how poorly matched Elain and Az are. It's not that Elain isn't good enough for Az; if anything both Gwyn and Elain are too good for Az right now. And both Elain and Lucien became my absolute favorites, even more than Feysand. Their personalities became more rich each time I read over their scenes and I completely understood how their mating bond took SJM by surprise. SJM was happily writing Lucien while Elain was a world away, them being together not a thought in her mind yet there were parallels even then. And I could see all the fun little hints that SJM planted once she did realize they'd be mates, things I never noticed the first time around. Lucien taking those first steps towards Elain before she was turned, Elain finally coming out of her comatose state within days of Lucien's arrival. Her never leaving her room until the day he ended up in the library. Her saying she needed sunshine before SJM dropped the Helion is Lucien's baby daddy bomb, the fact that while SJM has Feyre talk about E/riel being mates, the personalities of Rhys's parents (who had an ill suited bond) are identical to those of Elain and Az. And if someone pays any attention to SJMs books they realize that just because an Archeron pushes her mate away, there is still an extremely good chance they're ending up together regardless of how impossible it seems before their book.

Reading back over the series, I was also able to appreciate Gwyn in a way I hadn't before (I think we all understand how certain sides of the fandom can make us dislike certain characters. I have Gwynriel friends who aren't fans of Elain for this very reason). I could see how compatible she and Az seem to be and how their interactions make him so much more likeable than he's been as of late.

As it stands, Elucien is the first couple I've ever truly shipped without knowing if they'll end up together and it's awesome because I'm so excited for their story but it's also frustrating because I hate being kept in suspense and this has been a LONG wait 😂

#elucien

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softquietsteadylove · 8 months

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Secret Lovers AU???

Heyyy

I just wanted to know if you could write an AU where Thena and Gil have to keep their relationship a secret? In this AU I imagine that Arishem is Thena’s father, and he is very controlling. He keeps Thena in the house all day and has decided that on her 25th birthday she will be wed to Kro. Thena hates this

(Bc she’s already in love with Gilgamesh, Duh)

And she has to sneak out the house to see Gil.

So what do you think?

Tysm Byeeeee 🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼

"Delivery!"

"Gil!" Thena rushed to the windows, opening them fully for him to climb in and onto her window bench. "I told you not to come tonight."

He just smiled at her, setting down his picnic basket and pulling down the hood of his jacket. "Yeah, but that's when I know you need me the most."

"I thought Father took the lattice down," she frowned as she helped him into her room.

"Yeah, but Karun did us a solid and left the ladder out for me," he chuckled, completely unbothered by her father's efforts to keep them apart. Not that he knew that Gil used it to sneak in. He thought Thena used it to sneak out.

If he knew Gil used it to sneak into her room at night, he would sooner burn down the whole estate.

Gil had been using it for years, though, even when they were just children, whispering about books on Thena's roof under the stars. He had scaled the wall lattice as a pre-teen just trying to get to know his rich and mysterious neighbour. As a teenager, working up the nerve to ask Thena if she'd ever had a boyfriend before. He had scaled that lattice and recited the speech he had memorised from Romeo and Juliet, just to get told that it wasn't exactly Shakespeare's most romantic, despite popular belief.

She had kissed him anyway, though.

"Hey," he smiled, leaning in and kissing her gently. He ran his hands down her arms, "I know you're scared."

She sighed, plunking her forehead onto Gil's chest, laughing when she felt the traces of leaves and bristles from the ivy leaves. "He won't give up on this 'Kro' business, you know. He's determined to marry me off to that monster."

"That won't happen, baby, I promise," Gil attempted to assuage her worries, rubbing her back over her satin robe.

She shook her head, "we got in another fight about it. That's why I told you not to come; if he gets even the slightest idea you're here, he'll have me shipped to the Antarctic."

Gil shrugged, holding her by the waist, "I'd still visit you. Wouldn't have to climb a lattice to do it, either."

She laughed, toying with the strings of his sweatshirt hood. "You shouldn't have to, though."

"I would anyway."

"Gil," Thena insisted, looking up at him, her in bare feet and him still wearing his heavy steel toed boots. "I mean it. I thought now that we were graduated he would have let this go, but-"

But Arishem had only pushed even harder for Thena to form an alliance with his chosen protege and CEO-to-be.

"What did he say?" Gil asked her softly, guiding her to sit with him on the plush window seat, where they'd spent some of the most important moments of their lives, by this point.

She sighed, wilting against Gil's side. "On my 25th birthday he'll announce our engagement to his associates and the whole world. And if I don't go through with it, he'll disown and ex-communicate me completely from the family."

Gil scowled, "that's a bit harsh, hon. I know your dad's a psycho, but we were pretty sure he wouldn't actually kick you out, right?"

She sighed even more heavily, her shoulders dragging down so far it hurt. "Apparently, I thought wrong."

"Oh, Thena," Gil made a sympathetic face, which was all it took for Thena to move closer, clinging to him. He held her just the way she liked. "I'm sorry."

Perhaps she hadn't been hoping that he would suddenly change his mind on things. But was it so foolish to think that he would want his daughter in his life in some way? And he still didn't know anything about her and Gil, and she intended to keep it that way for Gil's safety.

"I shouldn't be surprised," she conceded quietly as Gil pulled her into his lap. "Father has never hesitated to choose his work over me before. I just thought...I thought for once-!"

Gil kissed her temple, "I know, honey, it's okay."

Was it, though? Not that she had any intention of going through with marrying Kro, but her father was far more powerful than she cared to admit. Even if she didn't want to go into the same line of work, she wasn't sure there was any field of society where she could be guaranteed safety from him.

"Hey," Gil whispered again, tipping her chin back to him. "What do you wanna do?"

Thena sniffed, pressing her tears into his shirt and then shaking them off. "I'm not marrying that cretin."

"Great start, babe," he chuckled, and even got a smile for his efforts. He brushed the last of her tears away, "what else?"

Thena inhaled, trying to wrap her mind around things. "I have my own job prospects, although I'm afraid I wouldn't be surprised if Father was capable of rescinding those, given his influence. I might have to start over, maybe even...somewhere new."

This was her most dreaded reality.

They had always known her father would never let her so much as be alone in a room with him, even as children. It was against all odds they had managed to steal what time they did. They had faced being in different classes in school. They had faced Thena's extracurriculars and Gil getting a part time job to help support his family. They had faced her going into university and Gil starting trade school.

They had even faced her being entrapped into a date set up by Kro and her father.

"Okay, where would you want to go?" Gil asked gently. Despite his smiles and joking tones, he was serious. Because wherever she went, he would follow.

"Gil," she shook her head, new tears arising. "Your mom and Sersi are here, you can't move just because I'm getting thrown out."

"They know I'd go anywhere for you."

Thena smiled against his lips as he kissed her again. For all her father's efforts not to let any love into her life, she had been able to sneak Gil her heart, and he had kept it safe for her ever since.

"Really, Thena, you say the word and I'll pick you up, we can go to Mom's until we figure something out," he suggested with a shrug of his shoulders. His tone was light, but his hand on hers was solid. "You don't have to be scared of him, honey."

She rolled her eyes, "I'm not scared of Father, or Kro."

"That's my girl," he winked at her.

Her smile faded slowly, but it did eventually. She squeezed his hands, "But I am scared to not be with you, Gil. And if Father has me thrown out and cuts off all my accounts?--I struggle to think of how far I would have to go just to find a firm willing to let me intern."

Gil tilted his head at her, letting himself smile again. "You say that like you like being rich."

She rolled her eyes again. She hated when he called her 'rich'.

"You already don't use any of that money you have hidden away," Gil shrugged. It was him who had told her that if she took out a little at a time in cash and stashed it away that she could use it without him knowing about it. "So, take what you can and get outta here. He's gonna kick you out anyway so just...come with me."

Thena stared at his outstretched hand. How many times had she dreamed of this?--Gil offering to help her run away from her father and her gilded cage of a home. The delusional and romantic notion of running away with the boy she loved (now the man she loved).

"You're your own woman, Thena, you don't need his name, or his money, or anything!" Gil urged, eager to pull her spirits out of the pit he could see her spiralling into in real time. "I always knew you'd be a badass lawyer, whether he wanted you to or not!"

Oh, Father wanted her to be lawyer, but one that would make good money. He wanted her to be a corporate lawyer, or even a criminal defense. Not a divorce lawyer who worked pro-bonos all the time.

She shook her head, "I'm just done law school, Gil. I haven't even taken the bar, yet."

"Which you'll nail!" he shrugged like it was nothing at all. "I always knew you would, and your dad knows you will, too. That's why he wants you to marry that creep! Because you're too badass on your own and you could take him any day of the week."

"I do not want anything to do with either of them," she shook her head and pulled her robe tighter around herself. She looked around her room, immaculately cleaned for her, full of expensive clothes picked for her. It was a very personalised hotel room, as far as she was concerned. "I should pack."

"I'll help you."

"It's okay," she whispered, kissing his cheek. "You came for a date, not to help me uproot my life."

"Actually," he chuckled as she stood and went to her desk. "I came after you told me not to, because I knew my girlfriend needed me."

She attempted to contain her smile but couldn't. She loved it when he called her his girlfriend.

"And because I will always be right here, babe," he finished more softly, kissing her hair as she collected up what little of her possessions she actually cared about. "You wanna leave tonight, we'll go. We can go anywhere, do anything. I'll go downstairs and fight your dad bare handed if you want me to."

She gave Gil a dry look. He was big, and strong in every sense of the word, but her father was like an eldritch horror out of a fantasy book.

"Okay, fine," he conceded, pulling out the bag she'd used to sneak herself over to his house plenty of times before. "What else do you need?"

She shoved her work materials into the bag. Her textbooks she could access online, and it wasn't like she could keep them physically after the bar, anyway. She bundled up her laptop and phone charger. "Just the stuff in the top drawer."

Gil unceremoniously opened her dresser and shoved everything from the top shelf in. "We can get you new stuff, too. You know how mom loves to go shopping with you."

Thena smiled; Gil's family always felt more loving than even her most fond memories of her father. "Yes, she does."

"Cash?"

She turned and smiled. Gil had no discomfort with the idea that he was going into carpentry and contracting while she came from an ivory tower. As far as he was concerned, she could rob her father for all he was worth and then be happy to sneak cheap snacks into a movie for a date. "Underwear drawer."

"Ooh!"

"Gilgamesh," she drawled, needing to remind him to grab what was necessary, and not whatever of hers was his favourite.

"Feels kind of exciting, right?" he grinned at her as she zipped the main section of the bag closed, including the cash that could keep her comfortable while she was literally finding her footing. "Like we're running away together?"

"Well," she raised her brows at him as she grabbed her hairbrush, "we are, aren't we?"

"Always said we would," he whispered before kissing her again. "You wanna put something else on or go like this?"

"And climb down that ladder in this?" she scoffed, gesturing to her silky little night dress, "no."

"Aw," Gil faked pouting before laughing, "I'd carry you down if you wanted me to."

"I know you would," she answered from her walk-in closet. She truly wouldn't miss anything from in here. Anything of hers that she liked and Gil liked was in that top dresser drawer, for all the other times she had left in the night like this.

Karun had helped them many, many times before.

"Okay," Gil smiled as she stepped out in a perfectly normal looking white sundress. "Ready?"

"Ready," she nodded, her resolve continuing to firm up with everything they packed. She looked up, "what?"

Gil shook his head, setting the bag down, "you look beautiful."

How she loved him. Thena smiled down at her feet shyly before slipping on the sandals she kept hidden in here. They were her only decent walking shoes. "Okay, let's go."

"Hey, you need one more thing."

"What?" Thena blinked, going over everything they'd packed. She had been planning this escape in the back of her mind for years, she was absolutely certain she wasn't forgetting anything. She looked at Gil.

He smiled at her, equal parts terror and excitement. His hands were shaky as he reached into his pocket and knelt down in front of her. He pulled out the ring box, gulping. "You'll need this."

#Thenamesh AU #I hope you like it my dearest #I know how patiently you've waited #I loved this idea so much #so star crossed lovers I can't stand it #it's giving childhood friends #it's giving friends to lovers #it's giving soulmates #young Thena meets young Gil because he snuck into her yard to pick from the apple tree by her house #Father says not to talk to strangers but he's so sweet #and she's never been allowed to have a friend ever #unless Father picked them #she and Gil like adventure books and books about stars #she's never been allowed to meet a real boy before #and they're inseparable #They become teens and Gil finds out he likes girls and oopsie he's deeply in love with his best friend #he continues to sneak over and he starts to wonder if she likes him too #he memorises that whole speech and Thena is like that play is really depressing and gross and weird #but she loved it anyway #and she kisses him half out of her window under a full moon #everything Gil's ever given her is either already hidden away #or she makes him keep it at his house so her father doens't find and take it #did someone say elopement? I thought I heard elopement #I really do hope you like it darling!

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newtonsheffield · 1 year

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Can I maybe request some spicy Sunday for the titanic au? Maybe something with our Anthony being distracted by her hips in those trousers?

Hmmmmm

Sure

Let's welcome Titanic Kate and Anthony to their first Spicy Sunday

She was distracting. Some days Anthony was sure he hadn't stopped staring at his wife from the moment she'd called out to him as he fumbled over the railing on the ship. For just a moment, he'd thought he was already dead when he heard her voice and he turned towards her and the air in his lungs had frozen. Her hair had been whipping around her, inky spirals nearly lost to the night sky and the ship's lamps had been like a halo around her and he hadn't been able to breathe.

He'd stumbled, falling backwards in surprise and she'd moved so quickly he'd known she was an angel. Her breathing panicked as she dragged him back over the railing and it hadn't been until his back had it the deck of the ship and her legs had straddled him that he'd realised he could feel her. He could feel where his hands had landed on her hips, the rough fabric of her trousers and he could feel her chest heaving against his and her hair tickling his forehead,

"Are you alright?"

Her brow was furrowed as she'd stared down at him and her nose had nearly been brushing his and he'd sat, frozen, staring at her.

"I'm not-"

"Sir! Step away from her!"

They'd been pulled apart by guards seconds later but even so, he hadn't stopped looking at her.

She was the reason he was still alive. In more ways than one. He'd stared at her while he hung in the water and her hand had gripped his, and her words had been pressed against his skin while her family stared curiously at them.

If you die I'll be very cross with you, Anthony.

You can ask me to marry you and then die. I wouldn't make a good widow, and you know it.

Please hold on, please, They're coming for us. I can see the lights. We're going to have a whole life together I just need you to hold on for a moment longer.

He hadn't stopped staring as they'd stood in the registry office with his hand in hers, the lie coming easily to his lips.

"My Wife and I were married aboard the Titanic before it sank."

And he hadn't stopped staring at her since. Never. Huddled together in their tiny rented apartment making their plans to return to England, his family likely now in even more distress now that they thought him dead, a responsibility he would have to shoulder again soon. But for now he had Kate. This life they were building together, so much more beautiful than he'd ever imagined.

All he did was stare at her, even now, watching her across their tiny bedroom with her brow furrowed and charcoal on her fingertips.

"I can feel you staring at me."

Anthony chuckled, adjusting his arm behind his head, "what am I supposed to do."

She rolled her eyes, her wedding ring shining against her hand for a moment, his words echoing through his head for a moment I'll get you the one you deserve one day "Well, for one, you're not supposed to move while I'm drawing you."

The sunlight was streaming through the window, warming the room, making the shirt she'd plucked from his wardrobe to cover herself with a little transparent where it stretched over her stomach only just beginning to swell.

He'd seen her in a dress, twice. Once when she'd been condescendingly dragged to the dining room, and another when they'd married. Every other day she'd worn a trousers and shirt and he'd asked her about it, curiously only days after they'd married.

"You prefer trousers."

Her brow had furrowed as they'd lain together, their legs intertwined. "Yes, and I don't intend to change that."

Anthony chuckled, kissing her neck, "I don't intend to change anything about you, Love."

"Well, intend to make you keep that beard, so perhaps you're a better person than I am. It's very handsome."

The truth was, she didn't look like herself outside of her trousers, even if they distracted him to no end. Every time he looked at her, his eyes caught on the way her trousers clung to the curve of her hips and her braces hung around her waist and the undershirt she wore at home exclusively clung to her body and lately he'd been nothing but distracted by the way it clung to the swell where their child was being nurtured into life. The brightest spot in all this struggle.

"Sorry," Anthony grinned at her, rolling towards her. "Is this how I was?"

"You know it wasn't."

He shook his hair letting it fall in his eyes as he hadn't bothered to slick it back today, no intention of emerging from their bedroom until lunchtime, his embarrassment at his mother-in-law likely knowing exactly what kept them abed for so long, long since faded. He rolled again, reaching the end of the bed, "Was I here?"

"You weren't," Kate said primly though her tongue darted out to lick her lips, her eyes trailing down his bare chest.

"Oh, I'm sure I was."

"No."

Anthony stood slowly, leaning forwards until he was practically leaning over her, his voice dropping as heat settled in his stomach and their lips nearly brushed "Perhaps I was here."

He could feel her breath hitch against his lips, felt the moment her eyes drifted down to his lips, and her voice was breathless when she finally managed to speak, "I think you were."

Her hand darted out, wrapping around the back of his neck and tugging him down until his lips crashed against hers and the moan that fell from his lips ached in his chest.

It was overwhelming, it always was, had been from the very first moment their lips had touched on board and he hadn't been able to think anything but there's no one else for me. I'm yours, forever. He knew every inch of her now, knew how her lips would move against his and he knew how her tongue would tangle with his and a sense of overwhelming comfort settled in his chest along with everything else.

He swallowed her moan, reaching forward and tugging her up against his chest biting off a curse when her legs wrapped around his waist. He stepped backwards until his legs hit the mattress and they tumbled down, his heart hammering in his chest at the sound of Kate's giggle in his ear.

"I love you."

Kate was staring down at him, her fingers smudging against the white of his shirt as she unbuttoned it, his chest tight as her skin shone in the sunlight.

"I love you too."

Her lips swallowed his words as they met again and her hips started grinding against his, heat flickering in his stomach, setting him on fire for her.

His eyes rolled back in his head as they started moving together, the feel of them overwhelming as her skin slid against his in the sticky summer heat and he was lost to everything else. Nothing else mattered but the feel of her, nothing but her fingers intertwined with his and her lips clashing desperately with his.

Oh, Fuck, Kate

He bit it off, his throat raw as his hands gripped her hips tightly, her fingernails scratching against his chest leaving dark smudges against his pale skin. His chest felt tight, as tension rippled around the room and the air seemed to thicken with it. Sweat built on their skin and Anthony couldn't take his eyes off his wife.

Her cheeks were flushed, her hair hanging around them in unruly curls, even as she pushed it back to keep their eyes locked together and her shoulders heaved and her eyes rolled back. The sun was lit behind her and there was nothing in the entire world but the two of them.

A growl built in his chest and he moved without realising it, rolling them quickly until she was pinned beneath him, her eyes shining as their rhythm started again, her fingers tightening in his hair brushing it back from his forehead.

Fuck, Anthony!

It took them both by surprise, as Kate fell apart, shuddering against him and Anthony fell over the edge as well, clinging to her desperately just as he always was these days.

"We need to stop this." Kate groaned, rolling them again, taking him with her until his head was nestled against her bare chest and his hand settled on the swell of her stomach.

"We're honeymooning." Anthony sighed against her, kissing the skin under his lips quickly.

"We've been married four months, Love."

Anthony rolled his eyes, sitting up "That's newly married."

"I'm not sure it is." Kate sighed, "Especially not when you've already a baby on the way."

"Well, that happened... in anticipation of our wedding vows I think so, it doesn't count." Anthony sighed a little smugly, kissing his way down her body, nudging her legs apart, "So I should stop then?"

Kate scoffed, twisting her fingers in his hair, "Well, I never said that."

#there's nothing i fear #spicy sunday🌶#kathony #anthony x kate #kate sharma #kate sheffield #anthony bridgerton #molly’s asks and answers

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otakween · 10 months

Text

Digimon Adventure 02: Revenge of Diaboromon

Wow...somehow this one just completely fell off my radar, otherwise I would have watched it a long time ago lol. I seriously thought I was all caught up with pre-Tamers anime until I saw this on the 02 TV Tropes and was like "oop..." It was a good surprise though, I can never get enough of these Mamoru Hosoda style shorts! (Looks like he didn't actually work on this one though).

I watched this dubbed first to take screenshots and then subbed. It's hard to find a non-crunchy version of the subbed short. The OG Japanese was a lot stronger imo because, as usual, the dub ruined some stuff with it's jokey tone and music choices. Still decently faithful though. Full thoughts below.

Notes:

So this is like a midquel, I guess. I don't know if there's an exact place within 02 I was supposed to watch this, but I didn't feel like my immersion was wrecked or anything haha.

While the aesthetic of the short was great, I felt the story was pretty redundant and eye-roll worthy. "Oh Omegamon/Omnimon is back for some contrived reason and the OG chosen children's digimon can't defeat him like they did last time...for some contrived reason. This looks like a job for the 02 protagonists!" Whatever, it doesn't have to be deep to be fun.

The early 2000s CG looked pretty good actually. I thought it added a fun otherworldliness to the Kuramon.

Kuramon look a lot like Takodachi (Hololive fans know what's up). I wonder if there was some inspiration there on a subliminal level.

I wonder if Daisuke's character designer intended him to be from a southern part of Japan. His tan skin sticks out more in this art style.

I feel like Diaboromon got uglier somehow compared to Our War Game lol. Armagemon's design was deliciously creepy though. He looked like something out of an Alien movie. His entrance was epic and probably would have freaked me out a lot as a kid. Weirdly, they never actually said Armagemon's name so I just assumed it was Diaboromon until I googled it just now lol

Sora and Mimi were like two sides of the same coin in this. Mimi was useless, but in a delightful way. Sora was useless, but in a boring way lol. Seriously, she didn't need to come all the way home from her tennis club trip to just go "I'm here!" and then do nothing. I'm not saying there was much she could do anyway, but I get really pissed that they never gave her character a real point aside from "bland love interest" in any Digimon show/movie.

Loved Mimi's interactions with Koushiro. Their awkward "we're in the same friend group but have nothing in common" chemistry is so fun.

Yamato seemed extra cool with his rings and stoicism. I do kind of wish he and Taichi got a little more dialogue though.

Really didn't like the direction of the fights inside the internet. They were either animated too up close or too distant so I felt like I couldn't really follow what was going on half the time. Also, the choreography wasn't that inspired. The IRL fight at least had a cool Evangelion vibe going for it. The harbor was a really aesthetic setting for a final fight.

I've started shipping DaiKen for funsies (there's some really cute fanart) so it was nice seeing them together in the elevated art style hehe.

Daisuke has a Yamato phone strap! So cute and supportive

It's funny how the digimon sizing suddenly changes when we're in movie-mode. Angemon and Angewomon were huge in this! I was excited to see the 02 digimon, but they mostly looked the same as they looked in the show tbh.

The Shibuya vibes, complete with Hachiko statue, were fun. Was 02 set in Tokyo? I honestly don't remember...

Seeing all those children running around at night without any worries about safety...must be nice, Japan.

When Omegamon "ran out of energy," I had the thought of like "can a jogress digimon die in the real world or would they always just de-digivolve??" I guess they'd never go that far for plot reasons anyways

Imperialdramon gets a new mode! Paladin mode, according to Google. Were these names in the credits or did they just decide things later for the TCG or something...?

We got the 02 theme inserted towards the end and even the OG show's theme as a ring tone. Really cute touch. (I was a little triggered to hear Bolero again for the millionth time though).

All in all I'm glad the 02 kids got their due in this style. Was it groundbreaking? No. Was it worth 30 minutes of my time? Absolutely!

#digimon #movie #digimon adventure 02 #Digimon Adventure 02: Revenge of Diaboromon

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notthestarwar · 3 months

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I've come to realise the only way I'll get out of this block is by writing my way out of it, so I've just gotta keep writing things even if I'm not entirely happy with them.

Wanted to share this snippet from one of my wips that i am kinda happy with (parts of it anyway lol)

It's from this. Purge trooper Cody time travels and finds himself on the spice ship Jango is enslaved on.

On the fifth night, Cody finds his curiosity getting the better of him.

"Were you always a slave, Jango?" He asks. Tone as light as he can manage.

After he left Kamino, Cody had heard whispers of who Jango Fett had been before Cody and his brothers had the misfortune of knowing him.

They'd said that he was Mandalorian, that he'd once been a leader, before he lost his people to some tragedy, before he'd learnt to hate the very people he was building an army for. They said that he'd had a run in with the Jedi, and thanks to that, he'd lost them all.

They hadn't said that he'd been a slave.

It hadn't made sense at the time, that Jango might hate the Jedi, and still, go to efforts to train their army, donate his very genetic material to the cause, but then came Cody's life after the Republic.

In the aftermath of that, he'd soon come to realise that Jango never intended to do the Jedi a favour. The army he built was simply a trap, wrapped up with a neat bow.

Cody and his brothers were meant for the Jedi, but not to serve them, not as they'd been told, the clones were meant to secure their end.

For Jango Fett, the clones he'd leant life to, were only a means to an end. He'd let them borrow his body only so they might secure revenge in his absense. The people they'd grown to be, independent of him? Simply collateral damage.

Cody had thought he'd understood, for those years, under Vaders thumb.

When he finally knew that the clones had been no gift to the Jedi, it was as if a puzzle piece had slotted in to place.

The conflict in what he knew of Jango's motivations, was resolved. He was one step closer to knowing an unknowable man. If anyone was capable of understanding Jango Fett, surely it would be his clone. The mystery of Cody's life, was finally concluded. Just in time, as all that he'd ever known, came crashing down around him.

Jango hadn't been a mystery to him for many years.

Even without a part of himself, Cody had been able to figure out the sum of him.

Even when that part was returned to him, he'd been sure he still understood. Falling through that void, finally Cody again, he'd thought he understood the circumstances of his birth.

He had thought he'd known the measure of the man who had been both the beginning and the end, of all that Cody had ever had.

Then he'd landed here, and with only a glimpse, a snapshot of who Jango had once been, he was left in the dark once again.

This Jango was a person Cody had never met, and yet, he was more familiar than ever.

Cody had never seen Jango when he looked at his brothers. Jango was something else.

None of his brothers would ever become what Jango was. They hadn't had the chance to.

Since Geonosis, the only place Cody had ever saw a glimpse of his maker was in the mirror.

And yet, here he was.

Reunited with the only person sharing this face that Cody had never missed.

What would happen to this boy?

What was yet to come that would turn him in to the man that Cody had known, that Cody had feared?

If this was his start, how did he ever get to Kamino?

This boy was no leader. He was a slave, and he was alone.

Was he fated to find a people, and lose them all, in the years that came after his life on this ship?

Where did the Jedi come in to things?

Cody is beginning to think Jango hadn't heard him, but then, finally, he shakes his head.

"No."

Cody felt his brow furrow.

He wondered what might bring a free man here, to this ship, in this room.

How does one that's always been free become a slave?

Cody wouldn't know. He's never known freedom. Not yet.

"I'm a Mandalorian." Jango told him. "I'm from a planet called Concord Dawn. It's a farming world, on the outskirts of the system."

Cody doesn't know it.

"My parents were killed when I was a boy by a terrorist group, operating on the fringes of society." Jango continues. "I joined a group of mercenaries, trying to live traditionally, honorably, while opposing them."

"We were betrayed, multiple times actually."

"First, our leaders second killed him, my mentor, on enemy orders and then, after I took lead, a corrupt governor plotted with them to trap us. He hired us for a job and then, set us up. He called for Republic assistance, th jedi came and without checking the facts, they attacked my people. I killed 6 of them, but it wasn't enough. They killed my people and then handed me over to the governor. He told me what he'd done, stripped me of my armour, and sold me to a slaver. I've been here ever since."

What would it take for a man to sell himself, a few million times over, in search of revenge?

Cody thought about that story. About what Jango had lost to get here.

He thought about living on this ship, cold and alone; he thought about what that might do to a man, after a few years; he thought about the man he'd known: cold and cruel.

"What would you give? For revenge against the Jedi?" He asks finally.

Jango gives him a long look. "Not that." He says shortly. "Not what you say I did eventually give. Not what I maybe one day will."

"I don't know why I did that Cody. I can't give you that, I can't tell you why. I wouldn't sell my children. I wouldn't do it. Not for credits nor glory. I wouldn't stand by as they took your childhood, I wouldn't help anyone do that. And I wouldn't let them put chips in you."

"I have a slave chip." Jango tells him. "If I leave this ship, they kill me. Don't even have to think about it. It's an automated process. I get too far from the detonator? Boom." He shakes his head. "I wouldn't do that to another person. Let alone someone made from me, but you're sitting here, proof that I did.”

“I know you aren't lying, because if you were, I'd see it. You're wearing my face. I'd know."

Would he?

"So either, I've imagined you, most likely, I've invented all of this." Jango turned wide eyes on him. "Or, you're real. You're real and you've really been sharing my dinner and my water and I'm not going without a blanket for no reason."

"And for some banthashit reason, the fates dumped you here, so you could tell me about it."

"What does that mean?" Jango asks.

"Are you supposed to convince me not to? Because you don't need to. I'm convinced. I would be even if you werent here. I wouldn't do that, but apparently I did."

"Which only leaves me with one answer"

"This ship is changing me, will change me, in all the ways I've been afraid it might."

"It will turn me in to someone I never wanted to be and then, I will turn on you, all that was once turned on me."

"I don't want this. I don't want to be that person. I don't want anyone to share my fate."

They sit in silence for a while.

#snippet #wip #my writing ntwyw #mywriting ntwyw

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radioactivepeasant · 2 years

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Fic Prompts: Free Day Thursday

(This is the reunion scene from my Splinter Cell au. It got away from me, so be forewarned: looong post incoming)

Of course there had to be another problem the moment they got back from the race. It wasn’t enough to just let them savor a victory for once. Or, Precursors forbid, let them actually rest. It was always something.

"Radar is picking up a craft headed for the island!" Vin's nervous voice crackled over their radios.

"What size is the aircraft?" Tess asked, shedding her weariness to take command.

"That's the thing...it's not an aircraft at all! There's a ship headed for us! I estimate it'll reach us in, er, er, 3 hours!"

"A ship?" Jak frowned. That was a little unusual.

"Could be Brutter," Daxter suggested, "His fishing boat has to come back for repairs sometime, right?"

"Maybe."

Tess sounded doubtful.

"Can we get some snipers down here? Just in case. We're gonna need em anyhow once the Baron figures out we swapped the Stone for a fake."

"I'll hang around and keep an eye out," Jak volunteered.

With a faint frown, Tess shook her head. "You can tag out, Jak. It's fine. You just came off a mission."

Jak snorted and kicked at the sand. "Mission? Tess, I was just racing! I do that for fun! You and Dax are the ones who actually did all the work."

He rolled his shoulders and shook out his arms, fully intending to patrol the beach until the craft either pulled up or passed by. Sure, he was a little tired, but they couldn't afford to get complacent just because they'd stolen back the Precursor Stone. Besides, the entrance to the Babak settlement wasn't far, and Jak had no intention of leaving it unguarded.

Tess caught up to him in two swift strides. She made sure he'd seen her before reaching out to grab his shoulder.

Unexpected touches were not welcome. She'd been around the block a few times: she knew to announce her presence.

"Hey, no. Don't do that brushing-off thing with me." She stopped in front of him, giving Daxter the opportunity to hop from her shoulder back to his.

"Jak, listen. I promise, I'm saying this because you're my friend and I care about you, not because I doubt you. But every time you have to be in the same vicinity as Errol, that's a trigger. I'm not putting you on any new assignments until you're ready, mentally and emotionally."

Jak laughed harshly. "Errol? Oh he's dead. He's super dead."

Surprise stretched Tess's face, then it slackened with relief. "Did you-?"

The boy looked away for a moment, then shook his head. "Nah. Wasn't me. He tried to run me down with his zoomer after he lost the race. Wasn't that hard to dodge. He crashed face-first into a month's supply of eco."

A dark vein pulsed in his temple, and one of his canines showed, sharper than usual, when he smirked.

"He never was much good against opponents who weren't chained down."

Daxter's comforting weight on his shoulder grounded him, steadied his erratic pulse. Jak focused on the sensation of paws on his shoulder, feet braced against his back. He was here, he'd survived, and this time Errol couldn't taunt him anymore. There was a part of him that was angry. Furious, even. It was a quick death, and Errol had deserved far worse. He'd deserved to be chained to the same injection chair that had seen Jak's worst moments, left to the tender mercies of the needle and Jak's own darkness. But now the sadist was beyond his reach.

"Wait." Daxter leaned into his face. "You're telling me that old Coloring Book Face -- the famed racer, the one Krew bet on -- in front of his adoring fans, crashed into tanks of eco like a moron?"

He hopped once and hooted with laughter.

"He blew himself sky high and took his reputation down with him? What a dumb way to go! It's perfect!"

Jak wouldn't have called it perfect. But he could appreciate the level of humiliation Errol had unwittingly dealt himself.

Tess still looked at him with that terrible knowing in her eyes. Sometimes, Jak thought the older girl could see right through him. It was unnerving.

"How are you doing?" She asked, and for once, Jak couldn’t bring himself to lie.

"I'm...here. I don't want to be around a lot of people right now. I..." He shrugged. "I need to focus on something else before I get angry again."

Satisfied, Tess nodded. "Okay. Do you want to be the one watching for the ship?"

Honestly, he did. Jak had a lot to process regarding the death of his abuser. But at the same time, the adrenaline of the race, and getting to challenge Praxis right to his face, still vibrated through his body. He really needed somewhere for all that energy to go.

Sentry duty was quiet, but required focus, and movement. Sig had been right about him needing that kind of activity.

"Yeah. Um, yeah, I got this." Jak stretched and swung his rifle off his back. "Could you just...uh, could you let Sig know I'm okay? I kind of had to blackmail him not to come to the race and snipe Errol when he passed the stands."

"Fair," Daxter observed. He stretched lazily across Jak’s shoulders feigning flippancy. "That woulda been way quicker than he deserved."

Tess shifted her weight and sighed, resigned.

"Okay. I'm gonna get this stone locked up somewhere safe. You let me know if you guys need any food or anything out here."

Jak agreed without really meaning it. The Babak settlement was right there, after all. If he really got hungry, he could just ask Brutter for some scraps. Of course, that was more an excuse to see Mar than anything else, but who was going to tell on him?

With Errol dead, finally dead, that was one less threat to his little brother.

Or at least, it should've been. It didn't feel real yet. Everything had happened so fast-

What if the explosion hadn't actually killed him?

What if some people were actually too evil to die?

Stop, stop it. That blast took out three guards that were just near the eco. Errol went right into the heart of it. If he lived, it wasn’t for long. He can't get me he can't get me he can't get me-

"Jak?"

Jak inhaled sharply and straightened his shoulders. "I'm gonna post up on the ridge over the caves. Keep me updated about the boat's progress, yeah?"

Daxter grimaced. "Uh...Jak, Tess already went inside. You zoned out there for a minute, bud."

Jak winced. "Sorry," he muttered.

His best friend shrugged it off. "Let's get to Our Spot, huh? I think we still have some candy stashed up there that Junior hasn't found yet."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The smog that perpetually surrounded Haven city was, just this once, a blessing in disguise. Thick and oily, it hovered over the water, hiding the boat from sight and muffling the sound of propellers. Rags wrapped around gunstaffs and rifles added to the muted quality of the infiltrators; they weren't here for invasion. It was not yet time to reveal themselves to the city.

Drake shifted the rudder and eyed the monolithic factory rising from the smoke. Ominous looking thing.

Not as ominous as the figure standing at the prow.

Every Wastelander there knew that for the king to leave the city, something had to be earth-shatteringly important. Damas hadn't spoken a word since boarding the vessel, not once during the eighteen hour voyage had he explained their mission. He just watched from the prow with hard eyes, tensed and ready to fight at a moment's notice. There was an air of anticipation about him -- not the look of a man waiting on the edge of battle, Drake reckoned, more like a man waiting for something to begin. Waiting for something important.

A glint of light caught the Wastelander's attention, up near the silhouettes of palm trees near the upper levels of the factory.

Drake tapped the bulwark twice, catching his silent companions' attention. With a hand signal, he indicated "light" and "gun scope" before pointing in the direction he'd seen it.

Damas stepped down from the prow and moved silently to the stern to crouch beside Drake.

"Where?" he mouthed.

Drake raised his arm straight, pointed to the glint that was still appearing from time to time.

Abruptly, the tension melted out of Damas’s shoulders.

"Just where Sig said he'd be," he breathed.

Damas patted Drake's arm. "Take us in. Stay out of sight of Haven. I'll handle the rest."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Up on the cliff, high above the rough waters, Jak watched the boat through the scope of his blaster. He counted at least six figures, though he couldn't make out any details yet.

"Well, it's not KG," he murmured into his radio.

For some reason, it felt wrong to speak above a whisper.

"Is it metalheads?" asked Tess.

"Nope."

Jak squinted. The figures vanished in a patch of smog for a second before reappearing.

"They almost look like-"

With a jolt, Jak sat up. "Sig," he realized.

"Huh? What do you mean they look like Sig?"

"No, I mean-" Jak jumped to his feet and snatched up his gun. "Get Sig! I think he might know these guys, they look like Wastelanders!"

His heart hammered painfully in his ears as he picked his way down the ridge, Daxter clinging to his shoulders for dear life. Wastelanders. In their waters. There was a chance they were on a job for Krew, but this soon after Sig contacted Mar's people?

It couldn't be coincidence. Jak had learned the hard way not to believe in coincidence.

A wrong step nearly rolled Jak’s ankle, and he cursed. Where's your head, Jak? Don't get sloppy.

The truth was, he was afraid. He was eager to find allies, and desperate to find people he could trust around Mar. But he was terrified of inevitably having to justify his existence to Mar’s family. Just the vague possibility of meeting an alternate timeline version of his own father -- a complete stranger -- made him want to throw up.

"Jak?"

Daxter's ears were pinned back against his skull. He was clearly agitated, though Jak couldn't work out whether it was because of him or the boat.

"Are you sure about this?"

Ah. Him. Daxter was definitely upset because of him.

Jak gripped the spiny trunk of a palm to steady himself halfway through their descent. He closed his eyes and inhaled slowly, like Sig made him practice. In...out. In...out. It wasn't a very impressive attempt at calming himself, but it was better than nothing.

"I...don't know if I want to meet them or not," Jak confessed.

His throat was dry.

"Today was...a lot. Y'know? I can only take being called a freak so much in one day."

Daxter stretched himself to his full length to wrap around Jak’s shoulders. He didn't say anything; there were times when words just weren't enough.

Cognitively, he knew Jak didn't blame him for leaving him to rot in that hell for two years. He even knew that such a thought would never even have crossed Jak’s mind. But that didn’t keep it from haunting Daxter.

For at least a little while, in the latter half of their separation, he'd had a roof over his head. A warm bed. A job, for Precursors' sakes, working for a man who treated him like a person! And that whole time, Jak had been enduring a nightmare Daxter wouldn't have even wished on Gol Acheron.

Guilt ate away at Daxter constantly. What kind of friend was he, living the mediocre life while his best and only friend was being treated like a lab rat? Jak was the only person who'd ever cared about him -- well, before Tessie and Brutter and the Kid, at least -- and he'd left him behind like a coward. Daxter owed Jak so much. The least he could do was be here, now, to watch his friend's back, physically and emotionally.

"Listen, pal," he quipped, hoping Jak couldn't hear how forced it was, "Insulting Orange Lightning's sidekick is a crime punishable by...well, not...not by death, exactly. A very stern talking to- and a wet willie!"

He nodded in satisfaction. "And I'll...I'll...I'll bite their nose! And you know I hate biting. I don't make offers like this for just anyone, y'know."

A little thread of comfort unfurled in Jak’s chest. Daxter hated fighting, and getting dirty, and anything even remotely scary. Knowing that, Jak couldn't help but acknowledge that Daxter didn't run from his darker half. The boy turned ottsel generally stared down his murderous fangs with a look that said "Is that the best you got?" Whatever else happened, at least he had Daxter.

He swung down onto the stairs to the beach and set the morph gun to Vulcan. If things got ugly, he'd need rapid fire.

Maybe, just maybe, things wouldn't get ugly.

But when had Jak ever been that lucky?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

He was there.

Damas could see him clearly now, watching them from the beach.

His heart clenched painfully in his chest, and it was all he could do to keep from diving overboard and simply swimming to shore. For the entire voyage, he’d prayed to whatever force might be listening that Sig wouldn’t be wrong. That his – their – hopes wouldn’t be dashed. Having had the possibility of a much longed-for second child placed before him, Damas had struggled with a fear that it was too good to be true. That it was selfish to be hoping for more when it was a miracle that Mar had been found at all.

But now the boat was close enough for him to see the wiry boy, standing with his rifle ready like a second, smaller edition of his own self.

Oh look at him! He’s all me!

An untimely bubble of mirth rose in his chest. He and Phobos had always debated over which of them Mar would turn out looking like the most. She always insisted Mar would look like his father, and he’d always been sure Mar would look like his mother.

Phobos had just won a bet they’d thought would take ten years to settle.

“That’s far enough!” shouted the boy, raising his gun. “Who are you, and what do you want?”

Damas laughed.

“Friends of Sig!” he returned through cupped hands, “He called us in!”

The boy – Jak, Sig said he’d named himself Jak – spoke quietly into a small radio, probably seeking confirmation from Sig. Just waiting that long made Damas antsy, and whatever made him antsy made the Wastelanders antsy. Well, not Phobos. Phobos didn’t do “antsy”. She was simply ready.

Then, to their surprise, the orange furry thing around Jak’s shoulders raised its head to shout at them.

“Alright! Come in nice and slow, no funny business!”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Jak wanted to bolt, but his boots were frozen to the beach.

This wasn’t just a party of mercs Sig knew. That man with the spikes or horns on his brow-

That was the bloody deposed king of Haven!

That was Damas son of Arez!

For all intents and purposes, in another life that had been his father!

And the poor guy probably had no idea. He was here to save Mar, to take him home at last. He didn’t need to know Jak was connected…right?

But then, Jak knew in his heart that he would never be willing to let Mar out of his sight. Not after everything they’d been through together. Maybe he could convince them to take him on as a bodyguard or something. Out in the wastes, maybe there wouldn’t be as much dark eco. Maybe he could suppress the Hunter inside him, and no one would have to know.

“Whoa, hey, what’s Spike doing?” Daxter demanded.

Jak shook away the spiral of thoughts in time to see the ex-king swing himself out of the boat. He landed waist deep in water and pushed forward, leaving his fellow Wastelanders behind. In a distracted sort of way, Jak noted that the man must have been incredibly strong to march through the deep water with no more resistance than a field of tall grass.

His eyes found the man’s face, and he lost his train of thought altogether.

The man was looking at Jak as though he feared Jak would vanish the second he blinked. Like it was Jak he’d been searching for, and not little Mar.

He looked at Jak as if he already knew him.

“Um,” said Jak eloquently.

Now that Damas was out of the water, there was no mistaking him for anything but a warrior. He wore wicked looking mismatched layers of armor, scuffed and worn with much use. Much like the armor, his skin bore thin, silvery scars wherever visible, telling stories of survival. Unconsciously, Jak’s hand drifted to his left arm, where needle tracks clustered like foul constellations. Here was a man who probably had as many scars as he did!

Jak’s pulse hammered away in his ears, so loud that he almost missed it when Damas breathed, “So it’s true!”

Completely at a loss for how to greet a king – let alone a man who might’ve been his father if fate had been kind – Jak stuck out an awkward hand in a half wave.

“Uh…I’m Jak. This is Daxter. You’re…friends of Sig?”

A smile split the king’s face, so wide it threatened to touch his ears. His fingers twitched oddly, like he was trying to hold himself back from something.

“Hello, Jak,” he said. His voice cracked and bounced with each syllable in a herculean effort not to break. “I- we’ve been…waiting to meet you for quite some time now.”

The boys exchanged a bewildered look.

“Me?” Jak stammered, “Don’t you mean M-”

Then he could hold himself back no longer; Damas reached out and clapped his hands to Jak’s arms.

“Just look at you!” He laughed and blinked back a slight glimmer in his eyes. “Look at you! You have my eyes-!”

Tongue-tied, Jak stared numbly into a pair of eyes that were indeed similar to his own. The shade was more violet than blue, but their shape was as unmistakable as the bronze tone of the skin surrounding them.

Why in the name of sanity did this man sound so pleased by the resemblance? Jak was a complete stranger to him! They did not have years of shared memories – like we should have, his mind whispered – and really knew nothing about each other. He wasn’t- He wasn’t the right Mar! He didn’t even look exactly the same as Mar!

“How old are you, boy?” Damas asked him with a weirdly friendly smile, “Fifteen, or sixteen?”

“I…think I’m seventeen?” Jak managed.

But then, he was calculating his age based on Samos’s guess of Mar’s age. And Mar claimed to be four, not five. He could’ve been mistaken, but then, Samos thus far hadn’t been the most reliable of narrators.

“Uh…how old is your son?”

Damas looked taken aback for a moment, but recovered quickly. “Mar is four,” he answered.

Daxter tallied out a few fingers. “So…sixteen, huh? Welp. Turns out you’re not old enough for a driver’s license after all, pal.” Then his eyes lit up. “Hey! This means I am older than you!”

“Wh- no!” Jak pulled an arm free to smack at Daxter and missed. “If you tell Tess-!” He let the threat hang in the air, unsure how to finish it.

The other Wastelanders beached the boat and splashed ashore, good-naturedly grumbling at their king for not waiting.

Wait- they still thought of him as a king?

Jak began to wonder if some Wastelanders were exiled supporters of the House of Mar. Had Mar spent his first years surrounded by people who had chosen the life of a Wastelander over Praxis? That might explain the kid’s seeming lack of self-preservation if this is what he was used to. He hoped they had no expectations of him, because they were bound to be disappointed.

“Come! Come, my friends, come and see!” Damas waved them closer, still grinning broadly. He moved to stand beside Jak and gestured between them. “Look! Who would you say this young warrior looks like most?”

Of the four men and five women in the band, only two managed to overcome their bewilderment enough to speak. The first, a burly man with a drooping handlebar mustache, stumped forward and squinted at Jak.

“I’ll be,” he huffed. “You been hiding another ankle-biter out here, lordship? How’d you keep Praxis from findin’ him when you got exiled?”

The woman, a stern looking fighter with one eye, pursed her lips and folded her arms.

“Well aren’t you just a chip off the old block?” she snorted. “Nice to know Sig isn’t losing his touch.”

This seemed to embolden the others, and in a matter of seconds, Jak was surrounded. Nobody touched him, for which he was supremely grateful, but he was still very uneasy with all these strangers in his personal space.

“Ha! He can’t grow a real beard either, eh, Lordship?”

“Oh don’t you start with me, Kleiver.”

“Now there’s a fighter if I ever saw one. Hey kid, what’s your favorite ammo?”

“Blaster-?” Jak answered in confusion.

“Oh, good choice! Sig teach ya how to use a Peacemaker yet?”

“Of course not, dummy! Look at him! He ain’t even old enough for Arena trials yet, I reckon.”

Jak was getting overwhelmed, and that was never a good thing. When there was too much input at once, when new sounds and faces surrounded him without giving him a chance to process, his grip on the dark eco tended to weaken.

Not here, not now! He pleaded silently with himself.

Noticing his tension, Damas suddenly waved the Wastelanders off. “Give him space! Give him space, all of you!”

He took a step to the side as well, leaving Jak with a ring of emptiness around him as a buffer.

“I apologize, Jak. We’re just…very eager to meet you. Sig has told us much, but I needed to…to see for myself.”

Jak gulped in deep breaths of air, doing his best to slow his pulse before something happened he couldn’t take back. They acted happy for now, but once they saw The Hunter-

Daxter leaped off his shoulder and stood in front of him like a guard. “Alright, alright, one at a time! I know we’re amazing, thank you, thank you. But our boy here functions best with a little thing called personal space. Eesh!”

He pointed at the Wastelanders. “No crowding the heroes, got it? And no insults! Any and all job requests must wait three to five business days for consideration. And under no circumstances will there be any pinching of cheeks!”

One of the older Wastelanders pushed to the front of the crowd and squatted to examine Daxter with some amusement. “You’re a feisty little one,” she said, and poked his midriff with a bony finger. “Not familiar with your species. What are ya, kid? Some kind of talking dogat?”

Daxter shied away from the older woman with a startled yip. “No touch-a the merchandise!” he squawked, and scrambled back up Jak’s leg and torso to sit on his shoulder. “And I’m an ottsel, for your information!”

Through the whole ordeal, one of the Wastelanders had remained silent. She merely stood there, studying Jak intently as though she wasn’t quite certain what to think of him. It was the only sensible reaction of the lot, and that drew Jak’s attention. What held his attention was her hair: coils and spirals of green tinted gold, exactly like his own. Jak had never seen anyone in Haven with hair even remotely similar to his! Hers, of course, was well maintained, and not the unkempt mess his own had been before Sig finally caught him long enough to cut some of it.

Her face was round and smooth, the same deep tourmaline that Jak saw every time he looked at Mar. He saw the curve of Mar’s jaw in hers, and the same solemn quirk in her brow. Jak’s stomach flipped, then dropped with dizzying speed. In his heart, he was fairly certain he knew who the woman was. But he didn’t want to even acknowledge it in his mind. She wasn’t here for him, after all.

He watched her turn towards Damas with an expression of intent. For a moment, they seemed to be having a conversation with just their eyes, much the way Jak used to with Daxter. And then, without warning, the hard look on the woman’s face melted away. She looked back to Jak with something disturbingly bittersweet in her gaze.

“Phobos?” Damas asked softly.

She moved towards them as if in a trance, only stopping when she was mere inches from Jak. She pointed to the chain around his neck.

“Is that your amulet, or your brother’s?” Phobos demanded.

They know! Oh Precursors, what now? What do I do?

“…mine…?”

Phobos nodded, suddenly shaky. A glance to the side revealed that the ex-king was looking a little shaky as well. What the-?

“You were him, in another world. Weren’t you?” she asked, much softer.

Jak swallowed hard, and his eyes dropped. He couldn’t meet her gaze for several seconds. “…yes.”

There were tears in this woman’s eyes when he looked back up, and Jak instantly felt a surge of guilt.

“S- sorry-” he started, but it was drowned out by a somewhat wet chuckle coming from the woman.

Jak would have understood tears. He’d probably cry too if he had to have a monster like him for a son. But under the wetness of her cheeks this woman was smiling. She reached out to steady herself against Damas’s shoulder, and she laughed. A deep, full thunder, rolling up from some holy place inside her as she wiped her eyes again.

“Damas, look at him. He’s beautiful!” she exclaimed, and reached a hand out to gently touch Jak’s face. Rough, calloused fingers traced the curve of his cheekbone, then brushed an errant coil of hair from his face.

Beautiful?

In the whole of his life, Jak could safely say that no one, not one person, had ever called him beautiful.

As he stood frozen, speechless, Daxter took it upon himself to speak for him. “Well thankee kindly,” he piped up in a ridiculously exaggerated country drawl, “You’re not too bad yourself, missus!”

This had the intended effect of breaking Jak out of his shock. He slapped a hand over Daxter’s mouth in horror.

“Dax no!”

The older woman who had greeted Daxter before burst out laughing.

Jak did not share her amusement. “I- I’m sorry, Dax is just- Gah!”

He yanked his hand away from Daxter’s mouth and shook it. “Did you just lick me?!”

“That’s what you get!” Daxter snickered.

“Gross!”

Damas chuckled -- it was a warm sound, without any of the bitterness Jak had come to expect from laughter

#fic prompts #writing prompts #jak and daxter au #jak and daxter #splinter cell au #jak 2 renegade #free day thursday #king damas #dadmas #jak's mother #phobos #spargan ocs #jnd Tess #tess is exhausted trying to keep her honorary brother from running himself into the ground while running a rebel cell #Tess needs a spa day and by spa day i mean unsupervised access to the armory #Damas is having the best day of his life #mar is going to wander out of the cave like 'oh good. mom and dad are here. why is everybody crying?'#jak is the only one feeling Angst about this lol everyone else is delighted to meet him #just wait until they see him transform for the first time. the whole crew will turn into overly enthusiastic soccer parents

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kitkatopinions · 1 year

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Fuming cause I’m so fucking annoyed that queer rwby fans are going to just eat up Bmblbee when it becomes cannon ignoring the several years it took, the harmful stereotypes that came before it, and try to put it on par with shows like SU or ToH while RT/Crwby didn’t struggle or have to drag their feet for nearly as long as they did

Yeah, not to rain on anyone's parade because I'm honestly in the camp of 'people (especially queer people) being excited about a queer ship being canon is one hundred percent valid and understandable even if the company and/or show is bad and bigoted and even if the meta surrounding the ship paints a bad picture and even if I personally dislike the ship,' but like.... It's so weird.

I don't have ANYTHING against people that like Blake and Yang as a ship, are excited when they see content surrounding it, will celebrate if they get together, or post gifs of every 'bees moment' that makes it on screen. As someone who has freaked out over characters I ship standing close to each other or looking at each other too long and is currently still hoping that Merlin might come back some day and might confirm Merlin and Arthur as a ship more than a decade after the show ended, I truly truly get it. But at the same time, some of the bees fans... Are really pissing me off. Because some of them are not just excited about the fact that their ship will likely get confirmed in a month, they're also praising RWBY and RT for being 'progressive' when they're behind the curve of queer representation with no censoring (unlike things like Adventure Time, which took about ten years to confirm Marceline and Bubblegum I think.) Not only are people like 'omg bees kiss this season maybe?' they're also sitting there yelling at other queer people for saying they're unsatisfied with RWBY's lackluster attempt. Not only are people hyping themselves up over a ship they've waited years for, but they're also completely dismissing and forgetting RT's huge and recent controversy including massive homophobia and transphobia to do so, and getting angry when other people say that the company and the show (partially created by and written by Miles Luna a former RT higher up with a history of misogyny and sexualizing and fetishizing a bi-woman) might be intending to use Blake and Yang as a ship to get in the fans good graces again and try to smooth things over.

Also, people were pre-emptively celebrating the definitely-gonna-happen confirmation that Blake and Yang were queer before the end of volume five, and before the start of volume six, and before the end of volume six, and before the start of volume seven, and before the end of volume seven, and before the start of volume eight, and before the end of volume eight, and now again before the start of volume nine. And I think it's going to happen in volume nine, I really do (though tbh the trailers and the plugging have made me a bit more hesitant because it seems like they're again being like 'look guys they've both got their eyes closed in seemingly the same plaaaaace isn't that making you think they might kissssss,') I think they'd be stupid to not confirm it, it seems like the only logical thing. But I thought the same thing about the bees reunion in volume eight and then fans freaked the heck out claiming that a cheek-caress was canon confirmation and now we're back to people sending hate anons being like "We're all gonna laugh at you bees doubters when they kiss in volume nine." It feels like Disney introducing their seventh first gay character except with less confirmation. Idk, it's a lot.

But yeah, the thing is, some bumblebee fans just have to realize that nobody (especially not queer people) has to like or be excited for their ship, nobody has to (or tbh should be) congratulating the writers for doing the bare minimum of including at least one actually confirmed queer main character after ten years of no queer main character, and after having promised queer characters since volume two, which was filled to the brim with heteronormativity, and after Arryn Zech called Blake straight as late as 2019, and after the RWBY Arrowfell writers had Yang refer to Blake as like a sister to her less than a year ago, and after a massive controversy involving massive queerphobia, and tbh tons more. We don't have to respect the company or the show for their 'slowburn' when they were trying to sell pride-month shirts with all four main characters despite the fact that at the time not a single one of them had any line of dialogue confirming they were queer, and they still don't.

Blake and Yang will likely be confirmed as queer in the next season this year, and despite the fact that many critics of the show have been actively pushing for that, we're likely going to get told 'I told you so' and have a bunch of people gloating at us and calling us (the majority of us living real queer people,) homophobes for not jumping and down with joy that this web cartoon from a bigoted company with sketchy at best content finally did the bare minimum after ten years with no censorship. And meanwhile Miles fucking Luna with his Ruby-Rose-At-Sixteen body pillow and his 'funny' story about getting turned on by watching his ex make out with another girl and his former position as head of animation in the same company that treated the voice actress of one of four queer side characters horribly for years and years... He'll probably get praised to the skies for being such a trailblazing cool progressive guy despite the fact that he and the other writers are the ones who took ten years in the fucking first place, when Yang could've been confirmed as interested in girls since episode two of this show. It's annoying, to be honest. It gets my goat.

#rwde #anti bumblby #anti bumbleby #anti bees #anti bumblebee #anti rooster teeth

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deadlifeseries · 1 year

Text

Just smooch already!

Another, slightly less short Prowlbulk story BC this ship gives me brainrot

Under the cut again cuz I said so

Why did he keep painting dandelions?

For the past few days, whenever Bulkhead decided to pick up a paintbrush he ended up painting dandelions. It didn't matter what he intended to paint that day it was just. More. Dandelions.

Of course the others asked about it, he didn't blame them. "I just want to try different styles and it's easier to paint something simple" is what he had told them, and it wasn't entirely wrong per se, it just wasn't the entire truth.

As much as he wanted to deny it, his prossecor had latched onto dandelions, because his spark had latched onto a bot particularly fond of them.

In the wake of this new theme, Prowl had taken more of an interest in Bulkhead's hobby. Passing by from time to time to see what new ways he'd find to paint the humble flowers.

"This one is rather interesting" stood in front of one of the newer paintings. It was of a gray scale street, with the only color being the bright green and yellow of a dandelion patch in a crack in the sidewalk.

Bulkhead looked away from the canvas he was sitting with, "thanks! I wanten to try making a painting where the dandelions take priority in an environment where they'd get overlooked".

And that they did. The background had buildings, and people, and all these other things that would take your attention. Yet the only thing you could really focus on was the little bit of color the dandelions provided.

"Well I'd say you've done an excellent job at that, is there a particular place you used as the background?"

"No, it's just a mix of random buildings and things you see outside. Most streets look kind kinda the same" Bulkhead chuckled a bit at the last part, it was true, the big city looked way too similar most places.

"Yes, that is why I look for little things like this, it makes things seem more lively", Prowl was still looking at the painting, enamoured by the attention to detail.

He must've stood there for a while because Bulkhead eventually sked if he wanted to take it. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah! It's not like I'm gonna run out of dandelion painting anytime soon. And... you seem to really like that one"

Prowl could've sworn he was Bulkhead blush a little, but decided not to bother him anymore so he took the painting and went to his room.

Sitting in his room with the painting propped up against the tree, he couldn't help but feel something tugging at his spark. He had expressed how he didn't like the distain people had towards dandelions. That he really liked them. And now it was the only thing Bulkhead would paint.

Did this mean something?

"No. We are just. Friends. He must've simply started to notice them more after what I said", as much as the thought stung, it's what he kept telling himself. Still, he could appreciate the paintings.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"There's totally something going on between them" Bumblebee whispered to Sari as they played games together.

"I don't know, I mean it's pretty common to paint flowers and nature stuff" she wasn't sure what he meant, but had a feeling she knew.

"Sure, but didn't Prowl have a rant about dandelions right before this whole ordeal started?" he, paused the game and leaned back "it can't be a coincidence, right?"

"OK? I don't know, maybe it just gave him the idea" that's the only reason she could think of. At least as far as plausible reasons go. She could of course come up with other reasons, but none of them made sense. "They're good friends, and sometimes friends give each other ideas" she wanted to leave it there and return to the game, she was so close to finally beating Bumblebee. He shrugged and the two went right back to their game.

Unbeknownst to them their little discussion had been heard by someone who they'd rather keep it away from. Prowl sat up on the cranes near the scieling, contemplating what they had said. Once again, the word 'friends' made his spark clench for some reason. It's not that he didn't like Bulkhead, quite the opposite actually. He really liked Bulkhead.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few more days passed, and while Bulkhead had started getting over his weird dandelion phase, he didn't seem to keen on painting anything else. Frankly, he seemed distracted.

And it wasn't just him

Prowl was acting more reclusive, everyone found that odd since he had just been getting more open with his teammates a while ago.

Most of all, the two seemed to avoid each other. To the point where Optimus was starting to get worried.

It wasn't like him to try and get involved in someone else's personal matters, but he also had to make sure his team was doing alright. He figured Bulkhead would be easier to talk to, he walked towards Bulkhead's room and as he was about to knock the door opened, surprising them both.

"Uh, hey bossbot. Did something happen?" Bulkhead had a sneaking suspicion about what it was.

"Well I was just wondering if you and Prowl have gotten into a fight. I don't mean to pry, but you've been avoiding each other."

"Well... about that. I just got a call from him asking to meet up. I was about to head out now."

"Oh, well in that case I wish you luck", he stepped aside and Bilkhead set off towards the spot Prowl asked him to come to.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Prowl was incredibly nervous as he waited, and no amount of trying to meditate remedied it. He knew that he could potentially ruin his newly blooming friendship, but he felt like his spark would eat itself up is he kept his feelings to himself any longer.

After what felt like an eternity of pacing around and contemplating he finally heard Bulkhead approach in the distance. Prowl quickly composed himself, and hoped the other wouldn't hear his spark pounding in his chestplate.

And so they were facing each other for the first time in a while. The place Prowl had chosen was a somewhat remote clearing. Just close enough to the city to not take too long to drive back home, but far enough away for privacy. The evening breeze rustled in the trees ever so slightly.

"So, uh. What did you want to talk about?" Bulkhead asked awkwardly, he couldn't help but notice how good the ninja bot looked with the soft moonlight reflecting off his plating.

"For starters, I'd like to say just how much our friendship means to me. I could trust you to keep the dinobots a secret, even though Prime would be mad at you for it. And even if I couldn't help you the way I wanted you still gave it your all and tried". Prowl's voice was unwavering but as much as he tried he was getting more and more flustered. "I would hate to ruin anything between us, but I...", he swallowed even though his mouth was dry, "Recently when you only painted dandelions, you did so after i spoke about them... and I feel quite similarly about you". He was just about burning up at this point, face completely taken over by a deep blish and hus engine cearly audible. He looked up to see that the other wasn't fairing much better, now standing a lot closer and looking bewildered.

"Uhm, h-how so?" Bulkhead was almost afraid to ask, but in his spark there was only excitement. If this meant what he thought it meant he could just about pass out on the spot.

The angle of Prowl's visor softened, he took a deep breath. "People tend to misunderstand you, and disregard your good qualities. After spending more time together I've realised just how... amazing you are. Your endless knowledge on spacebridges, how gentle you can bes despite your strength, and even if the others don't understand your art I've come to apreciate it". He was so caught up that he didn't notice how the other was starting to tear up. "Bulkhead? I- I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?" his spark froze, the last thing he wanted was to hurt the bot he loved. Withouth thinking, he cupped Bulkhead's face in his hands.

Bulkhead took hold of Prowl's wast, lifting him up into a kiss. "Noone has ever said anything like that to me", he smiled. Prowl smiled too, more than Bulkhead had ever seen him do. "I thought you were avoiding me because I upset you. But to hear you say all that, it's more than I could ever ask for. I admire you a lot and... I love you too".

They stayed there for a minute looking into each other's optics, then they leaned in and kissed again. And again. They both lost track of how long they had been sitting there exchanging kisses and words of adoration. "Does this mean we're more than friends now?" Bulkhead asked sheepishly, Prowl looked at him for a moment, then chuckled "if it doesn't mean that then I don't know what it means". They looked around in the darknes, realising how late it was "we should head home", "yeah... do we tell the other's about this?". Prowl took a moment to think "no, not yet. I do not want o deal with all the questions we will get right now".

"Yeah, especially Bumblebee... I'm sure it'll be fine, let's get going".

That night they both went to sleep excited about what their newly formed relationship would bring. But one thing was certain: neither of them had any regrets about it.

#ayooooooooooooooooooooo #this thing has been sitting in my drafts for a while #i really love the idea of Prowl being a sappy romantic when nobody's looking #also ik that the part with optimus is kinda awkward but i didn't want to write that dialouge scene #my beutiful dumbasses #tfa prowl #transformers animated #tfa bulkhead #prowlbulk #i will definetly write more about them in the future

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